Window opening and closing mechanism



Dec 15, 1953 L. o. BURRESS 2,662,766

WINDOW OPENING AND CLOSING MECHANISM Filed Sept. 12, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet l -FIG.I

INVENTORQ LAWRENCE o. BURRESS p BY FIG

ATTORNEY Dec. 15, 1953 L. o. BURRESS WINDOW OPENING AND CLOSING MECHANISM Filed Sept. 12, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 mm mm NM WT G INVENTOR. LAWRENCE O. BURRESS ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 15, 1953 UNITED STATES. PATENT OFFICE] WINDOW OPENING AND CLOSING MECHANISM Lawrence 0. Burress, Moline, Ill.

Application September 12, 1951, Serial No. 246,245

2 Claims.

The present invention relates generally to window control mechanism and particularly to mechanism for controlling long hinged windows of the type commonly installed in foundries and other commercial buildings. Some windows of this class are sixty to eighty feet long, comprising a single frame hinged along the upper edge for swinging outwardly to open position.

Heretofore, the operating mechanism for swinging such windows has comprised a shaft extending along the window sill having a number of spaced crank arms extending radially from the shaft connected by links to the window sash. Inasmuch as the shaft turns less than one-half revolution to open the heavy window, it is evident that substantial torsional stress is set up in the shaft, resulting in an appreciable amount of wind-up in a long shaft. This angular difference in the positions of the crank arms imposes twisting strains in the Window sash which sometimes causes breakage of the window glass.

The principal object of this invention, therefore, relates to the provision of a Window control mechanism which applies a uniformly distributed force against the entire length of window sash. In the accomplishment of this object, an operating shaft is employed which has axially spaced portions threaded in relatively opposite directions with cooperativel threaded nuts movable along the shaft in opposite directions relative to each other. Arms connect the nuts with the sash andinasrnuch as these arms are disposed in opposed relation to each other, the force applied to the sash is well distributed and side thrusts are balanced against each other, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art after a consideration of the following description, in which reference is had to the drawings appended hereto, in which Figure l is a fragmentary perspective view of a window embodying the principles of this invention, the window being illustrated in open position;

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional elevational View taken along a line 22 in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional elevational view of the control mechanism taken along a line 33 in Figure 4 but drawn to an enlarged scale;

Figure 4 is a top plan View of the control mechanism showing the window in closed position but showing in broken lines the position of the arms when the window is open;

Figure 5 is a sectional elevational View taken along a line 55 in Figure 4, drawn to an enlarged scale; and

2 Figure 6 is a perspective view, drawn to a stil larger scale, of one of the ball and socket joints. Referring now to the drawings, the window opening 9 in the building wall I0 is defined by a steel frame including upper and lower channel members l2 and vertical channel members I3. The lower channel |2 serves as the window sill. Only one end of the Window is shown, for the window may extend as far as eighty feet or more along the wall. The window l5 comprises a metal sash l6 of suitable conventional construction including a top rail IT, a bottom rail H; and a number of laterally spaced generally vertical connecting members it for completing a rectangular sash frame and supporting the glass panes 20 in any suitable manner known to those skilled in the art. The upper rail H is shown as of extruded aluminum construction with a hinge portion 2| extending along the upper edge there of and received Within the. socket 22 of a cooper ative hinge member 23 which has a vertical flange 24 supported on the top frame channel member II by bolts 25. The lower rail I8 is provided with a flange 26 which bears against, the front of the sill l2 in closed position.

Thus, the window is suspended by the interlocking hinge parts 2|, 23 along its upper edge and is swingable toward and away from the sill H. The window is swung between open and closed positions by means of control mechanism now to be'described.

A horizontally disposed shaft 30 is mounted in spaced bearings 3|, 32, 33, which are supported on brackets 34, 35, 36, respectively, attached to the sill channel i2. The shaft 30 is rotatable in said bearings about its major axis, the axis being parallel to the axis of swinging movement of the window on its hinge and also parallel to the sill.

The portion 31 of the shaft 30 between the first two bearings 3|, 32 is threaded in one di rection, say with a right-hand thread, and the next portion 38 of the shaft between the two bearings 32, 33 is threaded in the opposite direction, sa with'a left-hand thread' A pair of nuts 39, 40, having rightand left-hand threads, respectively, are mounted on the threaded portions 31, 38 of the shaft and are provided with radially extending ears or lugs 4|, 42, formed integrally therewith. Actuating arms 43, 44 are The opposite ends of the arms 43, 44 are flexibly connected to the lower rail l8 of the window by means of universal joints 45 of novel construction. Referring more particularly to Figure 6, each of the universal joints 45 comprises a ball member 50 movable within a socket member The ball 50 is carried on a neck 52 which is mounted on a bifurcated support comprising a pair of ears 54. The socket 5| is formed integrally with a lug 55. The ears 54 are spaced to receive the outer end of the actuating arm 43 therebetween, and is suitably fixed thereto by a bolt or rivet 51 which extends through aligned apertures 58 in the ears and in the arm. The socket member 5! is attached to the window rail l8 by a bolt 59 which extends through aligned apertures 60 in the lug 55 and rail l8.

The universal joint 45 is a. single unitary alumi-- num casting in two inseparable parts. The casting is made by first casting the ball member 50 in a conventional manner, then coating the ball 50 with a graphite lubricant and placing it in a mold, after which the socket member 5! is cast around it. The graphite prevents the adherence of the ball and socket and the joint is inseparable but rustproof.

In the closed position of the window the two nuts 39, 40 are positioned at opposite sides of the center bearing 32 and adjacent thereto, while the universal joints 45 are secured to the sash rail I8 spaced in relatively opposite directions from the bearing 32. The two actuating arms 43, 44 thus extend across the sill 12 in relatively opposite directions at acute angles to the shaft 30 when the window is closed. Rotation of the shaft in one direction shifts the nuts 39, 40 in relatively opposite directions away from the bearing 32 toward the other two bearings 3|, 33, respectively, thus shifting the inner ends of the arms therewith toward positions (shown in broken lines) in which the arms are substantially perpendicular to the shaft. This urges the outer ends of the arms, together with the joints 45. and the window rail [8, outwardly to open the window.

It is evident, therefore, that during rotation of the shaft 30 axial forces in the shaft oppose each other and there is substantially no tendency to urge the shaft axially in either direction. Similarly, the forces transmitted to the Window through. the arms are balanced and do not tend to twist the sash but rather to urge the latter outwardly and to stress the rail l8 in tension between the joints 45. Inasmuch as the shaft is rotated a large niunber of revolutions between closed and open positions or" the window, the torsional stress in the shaft is much lower than in shafts which open the window in less than onehalf revolution; therefore, there is noperceptible wind-up in a shaft of eighty feet in length. thus eliminating any breakage of glass due to this cause.

The window is closed by rotating the shaft in the opposite direction to shift the inner ends of the arms toward the center bearing 32.

The distance between the bearings 3|, 32 can be in the order of three or four feet, or a total of six to eight feet across the portion of the window shown in Figure 4. Other pairs of actuating arms are arranged in spaced relation over the remainder of a long window, although the shaft 30 extends across the entire length of the window. The shaft 30 can, however, be made'up of a number of lengths of, say, eight feet in each length, joined together by tongue and groove joints, as indicated at 65 within the bearing 33.

The shaft 30 canbe rotated by any suitable means, either manually or power driven. Preferably it is driven by an electric motor 66 mounted on brackets 61 which are fixed to the sill channel l2. The motor is preferably of the type having a built-in reduction gearing, indicated by reference numeral 68 by which the motor shaft 69 drives the output shaft 10 at reduced speed. The output shaft 10 is coupled to the drive shaft 35 by a, tongue and, groove joint in the bearing 3| as indicated at l I.

A pair of limit switches l2, 13 are mounted on the brackets 34, 35, respectively, and are positioned to be engaged by the nut 39 at opposite ends of its travel to stop the motor at each end of the range of travel.

Although one embodiment of this invention has been herein shown and described, other variations and embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art. I do not intend to limit my invention to the particular details shown and described except as set forth in the claims which follow.

I claim:

1. In combination, a Window frame, a multipaned window hingedly mounted along its upper edge in said frame, the lower portion of said frame including a sill, said window being swingable outwardly of said frame toward and away from said sill, a continuous shaft disposed alongside said sill. substantially parallel thereto and coextensive therewith, a plurality of pairs of right and left hand threaded portions on said shaft, said pairs of threaded portions bein spaced lengthwise of the entire shaft, bearings for rotatably supporting said shaft disposed at the opposite ends of each pair of threaded portions and gearing between each of said right and left hand threaded portions, said bearings being mounted on brackets afiixed to said sill, threaded nuts engaging said threaded shaft portions, respectively, and movable toward and away from each other during rotation of said shaft in one direction or the other, respectively, actuating arms pivotally connected at one end with said nuts, respectively, and. extending across said sill, universal joint means connecting the other ends of said arms with said window adjacent the lower edge thereof, said arms extending from said nuts at acute angles to said shaft in relatively opposite directions when said window is closed, and means for rotating said shaft to shift said nuts therealong in relatively opposite directions to urge said arms outwardly toward an open position in which said arms are generally perpendicular to said shaft, thus exerting a window opening force which is distributed over the entire length of the window.

2. The combination as claimed in claim 1 wherein said means for rotating said shaft comprises an electric motor means operatively connected to said shaft to rotate the same and shift said. nuts therealong in relatively opposite directions to urge said arms outwardly toward an open position in which said arms are generally Derpendicular to said. shaft, and a pair of electric limit switches mounted at the extreme ends of one of said threaded shaft portions, one switch being adapted to be contacted by one of said travelling threaded nuts when said window is fully opened and the other switch being adapted to be connected by said same travelling nut when said window is fully closed whereby the operation of said electric motor means is stopped.

LAWRENCE O. BURRESS.

(References on following page) '5 References Cited in the file of this patent Number 2,297,491 UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,298,176 Number Name Date 2,449,761 946,020 Duchemin Jan. 11, 1910 5 2,535,122 1,778,812 Pritchard Oct. 21, 1930 1,953,845 Barbieri et a1 Apr. 3, 1934 2,010,367 Lapsley Aug. 6, 1935 Number 2,085,106 Limonowski June 29, 1937 17,964 2,285,014 Butler June 2, 1942 10 239,288

Name Date Meier Sept. 29, 1942 Schwartz Oct. 6, 1942 Bemis Sept. 21, 1948 Hartman Feb. 12, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Great Britain Aug. 10, 1906 Great Britain Sept. 7, 1925 

